Review of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) by Jun K — 27 May 2012

"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." - from The Man who Shot the Liberty Valance.

Another dir. John Ford's masterpieces. As for the story, probably my second fav dir. Ford's western, the first is The Searchers. This film is different than other dir. Ford's western tho. There is less magnificent landscape, only for Tom's house (John Wayne), who seems to be disturbed by the civilization invading the west. Everything else seems like it was shot inside a stage. Dir. Ford focuses more on the lighting, and telling of the story thru humor, romance, history n social commentary. Great cast, and performances from every actors. I can't distinguish specific actor, because they r all superb. Since this is dir. Ford's film, I must say this is the best John Wayne character I've seen n experienced. He's such great actor, I can't see anyone pulling of Tom Doniphon except him. Liked him from the beginning, because he is strong, royal, and sweet inside. By the end, I felt so sentimental towards Tom Doniphon, left me with very heavy feeling. Btw one of the surprising ending, and ties up everything so perfectly. If you haven't seen it, you definitely need to watch this film. I started out feeling like watching dir. Ford's western like Stagecoach and The Searchers, n in the end it felt like Grapth of Wrath n How Green Was My Valley. It's a masterpiece.